I believe that I may have finished this story at about 6 o'clock this morning in my sleep and Christ almighty!, is it awful. At the time of this review, there are 6 votes up on this page, yielding an average vote of 7.

Seven? Seven!!!??? SE-VEN?????????!!!!!!!!!!

#~$!*%£ *%$!

What shitheads could possibly devote above average ratings for this crud? Allow me - shortly - to explain.

The story is:

Episode 1: Evelyn has a quarrel on a chat show with her step-daughter.

Episode 2: Evelyn in captured by a nutter.

Episode 3: Evelyn is freed from the nutter.

Episode 4: The Doctor discovers that Evelyn's bad temper was due to her having alien DNA knitted into her during a heart bypass. Evelyn is visited by the 7th Doctor is a tediously Russell-esque continuity scene. Hex turns out to be Tim Schofield, gopher-fisting, silver-head daytime TV presenter.

How anyone could listen with pleasure to this timid, painful, humourless cheese is beyond me. Written by and produced for the children of parents exposed to dangerous doses of radiation during pregnancy, I presume, yielding offspring with brains 1/10th the size of normal in nevertheless grotesquely-enlarged crania.

One can only guess at the sense of shame and failure which overhwhelems the performers as they read through the script for the first time. For poor Colin Baker, it must be quite like old times, I should think.

Apparantly, Bonnie Langford and Colin Baker are "two of the best things to ever happen to Doctor Who". If the producer sincerely believes that to be the case, why would he then continue to insult them with this trash?

Thicker Than Water is a sequel to the earlier Big Finish title, Arrangements for War. In this story we are once again back on Világ, three years after the events of Arrangements for War. What follows is a fairly straightforward suspense drama - a whodunnit fairly similar in some respects to 1986's Terror of the Vervoids. As such, it's a low-key story that moves along and comes to a satisfactory conclusion (rather more satisfactory than Terror of the Vervoids, I must say). Where it falls short is in that it seems that the writer or script editor was attempting to mix in some Ninth Doctor and Rose-style domestic drama, which works in the new t.v. series, but doesn't work here with the Sixth Doctor.

I have mixed feelings about this production. In addition to what's been stated above, I feel that this story worked better than Arrangements for War, because it's not very ambitious and the writer knew it. Yet, Arrangements for War, for all of its shortcomings, had a more finely crafted soundscape. There's no standout sound design here. Even Gabriel Woolf was far more interesting there. Here in Thicker than Water, his performance is just dull for some reason (perhaps it's the script).

Anyway, one thing Thicker than Water does is it gives us some nice closure for the character of Evelyn, which I must admit I found interesting and satisfying. Overall, a mildly entertaining story that doesn't take itself too seriously and plays a bit like a weekly prime-time drama.

Blah Sequel To A Boring Story

By:

David Layton, Los Angeles, United States

Date:

Saturday 2 December 2006

Rating:

5

OK. It is nice to have Evelyn married off in the end, and in particular it is nice that the relationship was allowed time to develop in the way that relationships should. It is nice that every now and again in Doctor Who, someone has a happy ending.

Now. Thicker Than Water, sequel to Arrangements For War, is better than its predecessor, but that does not make it good. It is more consistent and tightly plotted. That said, there is too much soap opera domestic drama stuff between Evelyn and her new family. Also, it was pretty easy to spot the bad guy; just aim for the one that everyone says could not possibly be the bad guy. Give Colin Baker a chance to play moral outrage loudly, and, I suppose, you have what passes for a plot. There is just not much original for one to think about.

STOP BEING MORONIC...

By:

Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom

Date:

Thursday 20 March 2008

Rating:

10

This story is class to me, does that mean im thick or retarded, id be glad to hear any answers from people whove given this story such bad and totally unwarranted reviews.

This is a strong sequel to a great story. This is definitely on level pegging with the tear jerking Arrangements For War. Poor old Evelyn has to face up to her heart problem at last. Shes had a rough time of it hasnt she? Poor old girl. But she gets a surprise visit from the seventh doctor! What a cool and unexpected surprise! Just a great addition to a thoroughly enjoyable story. And she still has the chemistry with Gabriel Woolf too.

Bonnie Langford isnt half bad too. Getting thrown down that lift shaft was nasty. What idiot would or could do that to lovely Miss Bush eh? Good job the Doctor is on hand to save the day, yet again!

You feel sorry for the killorans despite their invasion in the last story, and they really have been totally dealienized here. Reduced to mindless brutes. Poor old killorans too.

And the closing scenes are warm and touching yet again too. This makes me weep a little bit. Continuity when done properly is brilliant. Colin Baker is great again as the sixth doctor too. And the action is very realistic too in my opinion. I dont know why so many other people see this story is such a dim view, but it may be that im the dim wit...but who cares, as long as i like the story, then thats all that matters..